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Viktor Yanukovych: Treason for a Better Day
It is 2014, and post-Soviet Ukraine is on the brink of revolution. Rife with civil unrest and discontentment, its citizens are furious at their president, a man to whom Ukraine represents nothing more than a means for money and power. His name is Viktor Yanukovych. As tensions further escalate, he will be overthrown and his government will be razed, opening the doors to a young, progressive regime and its lofty aspirations. In January 2019, this fledgling authority will convict him of high treason, signifying the end of a post-Soviet age in Ukraine, and setting the tone for the country’s next generation of governance.
In 2010, Yanukovych’s inauguration brought a fresh wave of financial corruption to Ukraine. Even though more than a quarter of his populace lived below the poverty line, Yanukovych lived large. Starting immediately after taking office, he built himself a mind-bogglingly expensive mansion outside of Kiev; its front doors alone were valued at $64 thousand apiece. Dissatisfied, he continued by constructing a private zoo, then a pirate ship to sit in his backyard. With a yearly governmental income of $24 thousand, it’s obvious that much of Yanukovych’s wealth exchanged hands below the table.
